


Smoke

by stuckonalevel (AceHensworth)



Series: Learning How to Survive (Series) [2]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Fire, M/M, Mild Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 13:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15797181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceHensworth/pseuds/stuckonalevel
Summary: "He recognised the smell and instantly began to panic. He had smelt this particular scent before, a few years ago, and he had tried to tell his moms but they hadn’t smell it so they had ignored him, and his neighbor's house ended up burning to the ground. It was the same smell. The smell of fire and burning. He gently touched the metal doorknob and quickly pulled his fingers back. It was hot.The house was on fire."Michael was still alone in the bathroom when Jake's house was burning down at the end of the Halloween party.This is a companion piece to my larger bmc fanfic 'Learning How to Survive' and parts of it may be incorporated into that fic in the future. I may continue to update this side fic with past moments between Rich and Michael, as well as future ones that don't make it into the larger fic.





	Smoke

**Author's Note:**

> There is no explicit romantic content in this first chapter, but if I do continue to add to this side fic then there will be in the future. There is mention of anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, fire, and mild gore in this fic. If you like this please do check out my larger fic 'Learning How to Survive'. And feel free to contact me via tumblr @stuckonalevel.

Michael had lost track of time a while ago. He wasn’t even certain when he had sat on the floor, but that’s where he was now. He felt absolutely exhausted. He continued to pick at the lid of a shampoo bottle, his mind completely blank. There was a little bit of excess plastic on the cap of the bottle that didn’t need to be there, he was just trying to fix it. He wouldn’t allow himself to think about anything else. He felt far away.

He wasn’t even sure if the party was still going on outside, there wasn’t as much noise anymore. He knew he needed to leave. He knew he needed to get up and leave. He knew he needed to get up of his pathetic ass and leave the Goddamn bathroom already. But he couldn’t.

The thought of bumping into Jeremy, or anyone for that matter, was just too unbearable. Twelve years of friendship, gone. Just like that. Because of a dumb Japanese computer who was a total jerk off. Maybe if Michael had been cooler or more attractive then he would have been enough for Jeremy. But he wasn’t enough, he was just a loser.

Michael went to check the time on his phone, but realised it had died. For a second he felt envious of his iPhone, but quickly forced himself to shake that thought off. He took a deep breath and sniffed away the last few tears he had in him. Time to leave. He still needed to try and amble his way home, after all. He stood up and headed over to the sink.  _ Damn _ , he looked a mess. He splashed some water on his face and stared at himself. He hated the person staring back at him.

Just as Michael was about to reach out and open the door to leave the bathroom he noticed a strong smell in the air around him. He recognised the smell and instantly began to panic. He had smelt this particular scent before, a few years ago, and he had tried to tell his moms but they hadn’t smell it so they had ignored him, and his neighbor's house ended up burning to the ground. It was the same smell. The smell of fire and burning. He gently touched the metal doorknob and quickly pulled his fingers back. It was hot. 

_ The house was on fire. _

And he was trapped.

He looked behind him and was relieved to see a window. He rushed over to it only to be met with disappointment and fresh panic. It didn’t open wide enough for him to climb out of it. He could see people outside on the lawn panicking and yelling. He could also see the orange glow over the grass coming from the fire. He quickly flung open the window as far as he could and began shouting for attention.

“Guys! I’m trapped!” He clarified when he finally got Jenna Rolan’s attention.

“Shit! You’re not the only one.” She replied rather breathless.

“What?” He responded. How was that supposed to help him right now?

“We’ve called the emergency services.” She assured him. “Jake and Rich are trapped too!” She cried.

At that exact moment he heard yelling coming from a window above him. It was Jake. He really was trapped too. Michael’s panic increased as he began searching through the faces of his peers. He couldn’t see Jeremy.

“Where’s Jeremy?” he asked desperately.

“Jeremy Heere?” She responded. “I don’t know, I think he left earlier.”

He was struggling to breathe just thinking about Jeremy being in danger. But right now he was the one in danger.

“What the fuck happened?” Michael shouted.

“I don’t know!” Jake suddenly yelled in response from above. “But I’m getting kinda desperate here, guys!” He sounded incredibly scared, Michael also thought he could hear him crying.

“Rich started the fire!” Jenna informed them.

“What?” Jake basically screamed.

“Why would he do that?” A brief memory of Rich running around like a maniac asking for Mountain Dew earlier before Michael had hid in the bathroom flashed across his mind. Michael was incredibly confused.

In fact he was becoming very light headed. He looked behind him and the smoke was now thick and visible. He was running out of time. He desperately tried forcing the window open more, but it was no use. He had a sudden idea.

“Jenna, I need you to find a hammer or a rock or something!” He yelled to her, she looked confused. “To smash the window! Hurry!”

Jenna and some other people on the lawn began running around to search. Eventually Dustin Kropp came over holding something large in his hand.

“Get down, dude!” Dustin yelled.

Michael quickly hit the ground and Dustin hurled a large brick through the window causing glass to shower over Michael. He stood back up awkwardly, gaining himself a few minor cuts on the glass, but he could hardly feel them at the moment. He quickly wrapped his hand around a nearby towel and forcibly punched out and removed the remaining glass in the frame.

“Now!” Dustin yelled to him as he ran over and reached out a hand, followed by Jenna. They both suddenly looked terrified.

Michael reached out and grabbed onto Dustin as he looked back behind him. He could see why they were so panicked, the flames had already made their way into the bathroom. He allowed himself to be helped out of the window and across the lawn to the curb by the main road. He had only then become aware that he was struggling to breathe, he couldn’t stop coughing. He also couldn’t stop shaking, he was filled with adrenaline.

Suddenly everyone started yelling again and Michael stood up from the curb to see Jake flailing wildly from an upper floor window. He could visibly see the flames that occupied the room with him. And then he witnessed as Jake Dillinger leaped from the window. There was a loud thud as he hit the ground, and he immediately began screaming. Everyone rushed over to him, but there was nothing they could do to help as he continued to wail and roll around in pain.

Michael suddenly remembered what Jenna had said earlier.

“Where’s Rich?” He asked Jenna.

“Somewhere inside, I saw him start the fire in the garage.” She replied.

Michael could hear sirens in the distance and allowed relief to rush over him momentarily, Jake would be okay and the fire would be dealt with. But it soon disappeared as he heard a low pitched scream from within the house. It was Rich. Everyone heard it and they were all looking at each other with alarm. But nobody made any actions towards doing anything. Michael wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline or the smoke he had inhaled that caused him to stop thinking rationally, but he suddenly threw himself forward and ran back into the building.

The heat was intense, he felt it immediately. His pores opened in response and he began sweating, his eyes watered from the smoke, and his coughing returned. He could hardly see anything. It was horrible. It was exactly the way he had imagined Hell when he was younger and fearful of God hating him for liking boys. But he was determined to find Rich as he blindly attempted to find his way towards the garage.

Rich had been awful to him for the past year or so, but he couldn’t let Rich die. Sometimes when Rich had pushed him or called him a ‘faggot’ he had thought some stuff along those lines. But hearing Rich’s screams now he took everything back. Rich was just a kid like himself, he wasn’t evil.

Michael finally found Rich. He was lying on the floor screaming, arms wrapped around himself. Michael stalled as he realised that Rich himself was on fire. Not fully immersed in the flames, but enough to make Michael nauseous. Not knowing what else to do Michael took off his Creeps sweater and ran over to Rich. 

Rich was clearly in too much pain and shock to realise what was happening. Michael began patting his sweater over Rich’s body to stop flames. He could see Rich’s skin peel and break as he did so and this time he couldn’t help but vomit off to the side. He couldn’t imagine the pain Rich was in.

Suddenly Michael felt incredibly light headed and his vision became blurred. He needed to stand up, he needed to help Rich. But he was no longer able to breathe and he could feel his skin burning painfully. Michael suddenly realised he was about to die. He was about to die with Rich. He began to sob, which only made is breathing worse. He didn’t want to die.

Suddenly Michael felt arms wrap around him and something being drawn over his face. He could suddenly breathe again. He felt himself being lifted off of the ground and the next he knew he was outside again laying on the grass being looked over by firefighters. He was still incredibly dizzy and everything felt like a dream. 

He looked over and saw that Rich was being looked over next to him. He was unconscious and the emergency service personnel looked concerned.

“Is he alive?” Michael was able to weakly cough out, removing the mask from his face.

“Yes, but it was very close. He’s going to have some nasty burns. A few moments later and I don’t think he would have made it. He’s still in a fairly critical condition.” A medical personnel told him.

“Please help him.” Michael remembered muttering before he finally blacked out.


End file.
